Climate Council CEO Amanda McKenzie told Q&A that heatwaves were ‘worsening’ in Australia and ‘hot days’ had doubled in the last 50 years. Let’s take a look at the evidence.
It might feel nippy, but look out for winter heatwaves.
REUTERS/David Gray
Australia is looking at another mild winter – but while it sounds pleasant, it can increase bushfire risk and worsen drought. Winter heatwaves are actually (enjoyable) extreme weather events.
Emergency crews tackle a bushfire at Boggabri, one of dozens across NSW during the heatwave.
AAP/Karen Hodge
Heat records have tumbled across New South Wales as the state suffered through the weekend’s heatwave. A new analysis shows that climate change made this kind of event much less of a rarity.
We can learn a lot from Queenslanders.
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The latest heatwave put huge pressure on our electricity grid, as Australians turned on their air conditioners. Smarter design and regulations could solve the problem.
Cities are facing more heatwaves, but not all strategies to keep us cool are equal.
Sydney image from www.shuttrstock.com
Green and cool (reflective) roofs are effective tools for cooling overheated cities. Research in Chicago shows that their impacts depend on local conditions, so planners should site them carefully.
Flooding in Houston, April 18, 2016.
Laurence Simon/Flickr
Extreme weather has an outsized impact on everyday life. Focusing on average weather patterns may make Americans dangerously complacent about how climate change is already affecting our lives.
Extreme weather could trigger ecosystem collapse, including mass tree deaths.
Dead tree image from www.shutterstock.com
Extreme weather will affect people and animals, as well as whole ecosystems. Research using satellites shows that ecosystems worldwide are vulnerable to collapse.
Thanks to El Niño and climate change, last year broke temperature records – and reduces any importance attached to the global warming ‘hiatus.’
Mountains overlooking the Hex river valley in the Western Cape, South Africa. The country has been experiencing inclement weather this summer.
EPA/Nic Bothma
2014 has been confirmed as Australia’s third-hottest year, capping off a record-breaking decade, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s annual climate statement, released today. Seven of Australia’s…
Shark Bay is one of Australia’s 19 World Heritage Areas, home to dolphins, dugongs, and sharks.
Matthew Fraser
In the summer of 2010-2011 Western Australia experienced an unprecedented heatwave — but not on land. Between December 2010 and April 2011, sea temperatures off the WA coast reached 3C above average, and…
A record-breaking winter heatwave – which makes pretty nice weather for a dip.
Dan Himbrechts/AAP
If you’ve stepped outside at lunchtime in Sydney over the past few days, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was more like early summer than the beginning of winter. On each of the past 23 days, the temperature…
A spike in suicides linked to spikes in heat.
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Heatwaves and high temperatures can have a dramatic impact on people’s physical health. We only have to look at the increases in emergency department admissions during recent heatwaves to know that. But…
The Barossa in January: not always ideal cycling conditions.
AAP/Dan Peled
Complacency can kill. You would have to be living under a rock to be unaware that heat exposure can be deadly. Yet every year Australia – supposedly the “clever country” – endangers the lives of everyone…
Tennis fans cool off at the Australian Open in Melbourne this week.
AAP Image/Joe Castro
Just as Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451 identified a temperature at which paper self-combusts, the Australian Open has just shown the world that there is a temperature at which tennis players start…